Spacer for twin and multiple conductors of high voltage aerial transmission lines



Oct. 15, 1963 A. PERRONE ETAL 3,107,272

} SPACER FOR 'rwm AND MULTIPLE CONDUCTORS OF HIGH VOLTAGE AERIAL TRANSMISSION LINES 'Filed May 13, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor; ARRIGO 7 EKONNE ALESSANWRO ALVI A ttorne y 7 Filed May 13, 1958 Oct. 15, 1963 A. PERRONE ETAL 3,107,272 SPACER FOR TWIN AND MULTIPLE CONDUCTORS OF HIGH VOLTAGE AERIAL TRANSMISSION LINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventors ARRlG-Q P R ALLESANDKO SAL V I ah gk W..-

Attorney United States Patent SPACER FOR TWIN AND MULTIPLE CON- DUCTORS OF HIGH VOLTAGE AERIAL TRANSMISSION LINES Arrigo Perrone, Via Capranica 12, and Alessandro Salvi, Via Cosenz 32, both of Milan, Italy Filed May 13, 1958, Ser. No. 734,977 Claims priority, application Italy May 14, 1957 4 Claims. (Cl. 17440) This invention relates to spacers for twin and multiple conductors of high voltage aerial transmission lines and is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Serial No. 444,604, filed July 20, 1954, now Patent No. 2,953,624.

In Patent No. 2,953,624, there is disclosed a spacer for two or more conductors of high voltage aerial transmission lines comprising flexible deformable curvilinear elements, preferably of annular shape, combined with clamps for connecting the spacers to the conductors of a transmission line. In said Patent No. 2,953,624, various embodiments are shown to which both the elastically deformable element and the clamps for connecting the same to the conductors are made of metal, so as also to establish an electric connection between the various conductors.

The present invention has for its object a number of modified forms of construction designed to further enhance the excellent properties of these spacers, both as regards the electrical and mechanical efficiency of clamps and as regards the protection of the spacers, as a whole, against atmospheric agents and in particular deleterious atmospheres.

According to this invention there is provided a spacer for two or more conductors of overhead electric lines, consisting of a flexible deformable curvilinear element, disposed between at least one pair of the conductors, and a series of clamps adapted to fix each conductor firmly to the point of the curvilinear element adjacent thereto, characterized in that each clamp consists of means adapted to grip respectively the elastically deformable element and the conductor to be connected thereto, generally in a right-angled arrangement owing to tightening requirements, and with the two adjacent half-shells interposed between the deformable element and the conductor forming a single body.

The said single body constituted by the two central half-shells may be formed in a single piece with the halfshell clamping the flexible deformable element, which half-shell is east in a mould, together with the said body, so as to enclose a portion of the deformable element which has previously been introduced into the mould. The block thus obtained therefore forms an integral and inseparable part of the elastically deformable element, thus preventing any possibility of infiltration of the atmosphere between the block and the deformable element, and simplifying the assembly of the clamp due to the elimination of two tightening nuts.

Independently of, or in combination with these modifications, the present invention may also provide that the elastically deformable element and/ or the clamps for connecting the same to the line conductors are covered, at least partially, with a covering of plastic material which is resistant to corrosion. The covering of plastic material may in some embodiments assume a thickness such as to participate in the mechanical strength of the spacer, in which case the metal parts are reduced to functioning as a core for the parts consisting of plastic material and as an electric connection, or the metal parts can even be completely omitted in the case when this electric connection can be dispensed with.

A number of embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of non-limitative example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGS. 1 to 3 are three orthogonal views of a clamp block cast directly on a flexible deformable spacer element;

FIG. 4 shows diagrammatically a method of making this block;

FIG. 5 shows a mounted spacer comprising two, threepart clamps and in which theflexible deformable element is covered with plastic;

FIG. 5a is an enlarged cross-section of the deformable element on the line V--V of FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 shows a spacer similar to that shown in FIG. 5;

FIGS. 6a and 6b are cross-sections on the line VIVl of FIG. 6, in the case of a deformable element made entirely of plastic and one provided with a metal core, respectively; and

FIG. 7 shows a spacer similar to that shown in FIG. 6 and in which the central blocks of the clamps are each formed in one piece with the elastically deformable element,

According to the embodiment illustrated by FIGS. 1 to 4, each clamp is generally composed of only two shells, or elongated portions with concave surfaces designed to cooperate with the conductor (not shown), only one of which shells is shown in the drawing, namely the one connected to the elastically deformable element 1. From the back of this shell 2, which is provided with four holes 3 for the passage of the shanks of U-shaped members for clamping the conductor to it, there extends a projection 4 enclosing a portion of the deformable element 1.

This enclosure can be obtained, as Shown in FIG. 4, by introducing the relevant part of the element 1 into a mould 5 for casting the shell 3 before it is cast, so that the shell completely surrounds and is firmly fixed to the said part of the element 1, which thus forms a single body with the shell 2.

Light alloys have proved most suitable in practice for forming the shell 2 in the above-described manner, both because of their aptitude for attaching themselves to the material constituting the element 1 without altering the properties thereof and because of their well-known properties which prevent losses of energy due to electromagnetic effect (hysteresis) in the clamps. However, the invention is not limited to the use of these alloys.

The flexible deformable element, Whether it is incorporated in the clamp block or simply retained by the clamp under pressure, may be provided with a protective covering of plastic material, this covering being indicated diagrammatically by the circular line 6 in FIG. 5a. In this figure, the element covered in this way is fixed to the two conductors C by means of two clamps, each of which consists of two half-shells, or elongated portions 7 and 8 for gripping the ring 1, and two half-shells, or elongated portions, 9 and 10, arranged at right angles to the half shells 7 and 8, for gripping the conductors C, the half-shells '8 and 9 forming between them a single body of two integral sections to which the half-shell 10 is connected by means of two U-shaped members 11 having threaded shanks and nuts 11', and to which the half-shell 7 is connected by means of two bolts 12 with nuts 12', respectively, the bolts being disposed symmetrically on the two sides of the ring. These clamps, which are preferably made of light alloy, may also be covered with a protective coating of platsic, like the element 1.

Especially as regards the element 1, this covering may assume a thickness such as to reduce the metal part to a mere core 1', as shown in FIG. 6b, or to eliminate it, as shown in FIG. 6a.

The use of plastic material as a fundamental component of the elastically deformable element, in particular the ring 1, also lends itself to the formation of the ring in a single piece with the half-shells or elongated portions 9 for gripping the conductors C, as illustrated in FIG. 7, thus eliminating the half-shells '7 and 3- and simplifying the fitting of the spacer, exactly as in the case of FIGS. 1 to 4. It is obvious that in this case the half-shell 10 will also preferably consist of plastic material.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to some particular examples which give satisfactory results, it will be understood by those skilled in the art after understanding the principle of the inven:

tion, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spiritsand scope of the invention and it is intended, therefore, in the appended claims, to cover all such changes and modifications.

What we claim is:

1. A spacer for two conductor lines comprising a flexible, deformable, curvilinear spacer element; and a pair of clamp means for fixing the conductor lines to the spacer element at opposed points on the spacer ele-. ment; each of said clamp means comprising a first elongated por'tion having an integral projection extending from the mid section of the back thereof and fixed to the spacer element by casting the projection around the spacer element; said first portion having a concave surface opposite the projection extending longitudinally thereof and having holes therethrough at opposite sides of the projection adjacentthe ends of the first portion; a second, elongated portion having a concave surface extending longitudinally thereof, which concave surface cooperates with the concave surface of the first portion to receive a conductor line; and connecting means including a U-shaped member at each end of said clamp means surrounding the second portion and extending through the holes in the first portion for securely holding a conductor line between the first and second portions.

2. A spacer for two conductor lines comprising a flexible, deformable, curvilinear spacer element; and a pair of clamp means for fixing the conductor lines to the spacer element at opposed points on the spacer element; each of said clamp means comprising a first portion having an elongated section with a concave surface therein and an integral second section extending perpendicularly with respect to the first section opposite the concave surface; a second portion; connecting means extending between the second section of the first portion and the second portion for gripping therebetween the spacer element; a third, elongated portion having a concave surface extending longitudlinallyl thereof, which concave surface cooperates with the concave surface of the elongated section of the first portion to receive a conductor line; and a pair of connecting means including a U-shaped member at each end of said clamp means extudinally thereof, which concave surface cooperates with the concave surface in one of the elongated portions of the spacer element to receive a conductor line; and

connecting means including a U-shaped member at each end of said clamp means extending between respective elongated portions of the spacer element and of the clamp means for gripping therebetween a conductor line.

4. A spacer for two conductor linescomprising a flexible, deformable, curvilinear spacer elementyand a pair of clamp means for fixing the conductor lines to the spacer element at opposed points on the spacer element; each of said clamp means comprising a first elongated portion having an integral projection extending from the mid-section of the back thereof and fixed to the spacer element by casting the projection around the spacer element; said first portion having a concave surface opposite the projection extending longitudinally thereof and having holes therethrough at opposite sides of the projection adjacent the ends of the firstportion; a second,,elongated portion having a concave surface extending longitudinally thereof, which concave surface cooperates with the concave surface of the first portion to receive a conductor line; and connecting means at each end of said clamp means extending between the said first portion and the said second portion for securely holding a conductor line between the two portions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 964,737 Ashley July 19, 1910 1,668,346 Varney May 1, 1928 2,077,613 Bondeson Apr. 20, 1937 2,164,022 Rowe June 27, 1939 2,210,465 Orsenigo Aug. 6, 1940 2,432,635 Van Ryan Dec. 16, 1947 2,918,520 Stevens Dec. 22, 1959 2,937,226 Kaminski et a1. May 17, 1960 2,973,401 Taylor Feb. 28, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,336 Great Britain 1915 84,736 Switzerland Apr. 16, 1920 307,878 Italy -Q. May 17, 1933 

4. A SPACER FOR TWO CONDUCTOR LINES COMPRISING A FLEXIBLE, DEFORMABLE, CURVILINEAR SPACE ELEMENT; AND A PAIR OF CLAMP MEANS FOR FIXING THE CONDUCTOR LINES TO THE SPACE ELEMENT AT OPPOSED POINTS ON THE SPACER ELEMENT; EACH OF SAID CLAMP MEANS COMPRISING A FIRST ELONGATED PORTION HAVING AN INTEGRAL PROJECTION EXTENDING FROM THE MID-SECTION OF THE BACK THEREOF AND FIXED TO THE SPACER ELEMENT BY CASTING THE PROJECTION AROUND THE SPACER ELEMENT; SAID FIRST PORTION HAVING A CONCAVE SURFACE OPPOSITE THE PROJECTION EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF AND HAVING HOLES THERETHROUGH AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE PROJECTION ADJACENT THE ENDS OF THE FIRST PORTION; A SECOND, ELONGATED PORTION HAVING A CONCAVE SURFACE EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF, WHICH CONCAVE SURFACE COOPERATES WITH THE CONCAVE SURFACE OF THE FIRST PORTION TO RECEIVE A CONDUCTOR LINE; AND CONNECTING MEANS AT EACH END OF SAID CLAMP MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE SAID FIRST PORTION AND THE SAID SECOND PORTION FOR SECURELY HOLDING A CONDUCTOR LINE BETWEEN THE TWO PORTIONS. 